It's Only Business
by Just.A.Drifter
Summary: AU/AH After the devastating loss of her family, Elena is now under the direction of the Mafia working as an assassin. When a potential client asks her to get rid of his co-worker in exchange for a heavy sum, will Elena be up for the task?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey guys! After months of reading fanfiction, I've decided to give it a try myself. This is my first story so of course, I'm open to all the suggestions I can get for improvement. This idea just sort of popped into my head and I'm curious as to where it will take me. Guess there's only one way to find out for sure!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of TVD or its characters.**

_Beep! Beep! Beep! Be—_

Elena Gilbert slammed her fist down on the alarm clock and reluctantly opened her eyes, only to see a flashing 7:30 glaring back at her. _Dammit_, she muttered as she rose groggily from the bed to her feet. Elena dragged herself to her third-floor apartment window, greeted by the already apparent bustling sounds of an average morning in downtown Richmond, Virginia. She scowled when she noticed a man in a fine Armani business suit rush towards a taxi, grimaced as a woman fiddled with her palm pilot, and clenched her fists as the preppy schoolchildren walked as if on a death march to their boring classes. Elena backed away from her window in an instant and turned to look back at her small dusty apartment, complete with a queen-sized bed, miniscule dresser with one of the tiniest mirrors she had ever seen, and the dreaded alarm clock that sat on a little desk situated in the corner of the room; all she could afford based on her salary these days was this junkyard she called home.

The old Elena Gilbert would never have accepted this type of lifestyle. The reason she was in this situation to begin with was because of her family back in Mystic Falls. After coming home from her best friend Bonnie Bennett's house, Elena found an all-too-surreal sight. Grayson and Miranda Gilbert, as well as her brother, Jeremy, were uncomfortably seated on the couch with their hands and feet bound together. Elena made a move to run right at them until she heard the click of a gun behind her. The terrorist ordered her not to move as he made his way around her towards the rest of the family. Without further warning, he shot each of them and turned towards her, pointing his gun. Elena felt hot tears of rage and sadness fall from her face as a cold and empty feeling surged through her body. She closed her eyes and waited for her impending doom for what seemed like an eternity, but after a few moments she realized that nothing was going to happen. When she opened them again, the only sign of the murderer was his gun left on the coffee table. Elena immediately dialed 911 and within minutes Sheriff Liz Forbes arrived on her doorstep. Apparently, having everyone else in her family murdered with a gun left right by the bodies and no other person in sight did not look good for Elena. The way it seemed to Sheriff Forbes, the murders were carried out too amateur-like for a serial killer to do it; much to her horror, this put Elena as the prime suspect. Before the sheriff could send her off in handcuffs, Elena asked if she could at least spend a few moments alone to reminisce about her family. Sheriff Forbes reluctantly allowed her to do so given this might be her last chance of freedom. Elena shuffled upstairs to her bedroom and locked the door, quickly heading for the window. Elena fled her home that night, no longer feeling safe in the little town of Mystic Falls, and vowed to find and avenge the murder of her family. She was forced to live on the streets of Richmond, a city 100 miles away, going so far as to steal from the local grocery store or pickpocket a man for a few spare dollars.

On the eve of her 17th birthday, Elena found a man that seemed to make everything bad just disappear, even if for a moment; Mason Lockwood was charming, or so it seemed. At first, Mason catered to Elena's every demand and wish, but looking back now she could see that it was all just a ploy to get her to trust him and join forces with him. Elena could still feel the initial shock she held within her when Mason blatantly confided in her that he did business with the Mafia and that he was short an assassin and needed someone to do his dirty work; he had been watching Elena for a time and thought she might have great potential one day in the Mafia wars. On top of all this, he promised good pay. Elena hesitantly agreed to this twisted arrangement since she had become so desperate over the past few months for at least a little bit of good fortune and presumed that she had nothing else to lose in the world; she even considered the fact that maybe working with the Mafia might lead her to the man who murdered her family so that she could avenge their deaths. After warming up to Mason and his troupe, she told her fellow assassins her tragic back story. Mason agreed that the Mafia would help her in her quest to destroy the man that took away her security in life.

Elena stepped back into the present day and went towards her bathroom to take a quick shower before she headed out to meet Mason. He was the type of guy known to only do things for a person if an equal favor was returned; Elena figured that in order to keep him around, only one of two people she still had a real connection with nowadays, she owed him whatever services he deemed necessary. She took one glance in the mirror at her appearance, her waist-length chestnut brown hair brought up into a ponytail. She hurriedly rummaged through the contents of her dresser, dissatisfied with what little options she had to choose from, but decided upon a pair of nice-fitting jeans and a loose white t-shirt before leaving the shabby room.

Elena made her way towards the building complex that held Mason's private affairs. From the outside, not much could be said about the makeshift of the building other than it appeared to be rundown and out of use; the same could be said for the inside as well. As soon as Elena was through the front doors, a pair of strong arms grabbed her from behind. Elena reached up to grab her opponent's head before jerking it forward with all of her might. She heard a loud pop and the arms quickly let go of her.

"Ow! What the hell did you do that for? You know it's only me, Elena," a disheveled man with short dark brown hair and a muscular body professed.

Elena immediately moved towards her supposed attacker. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry Tyler! I've just been really out of it this morning."

"I see that those martial arts classes have really worked some magic on you," Tyler groaned, rubbing his neck as he got to his feet. "Uncle Mason said he had an important assignment for you by the way. I think this one might actually get him off your back for awhile."

Elena stared past Tyler for a moment as he made his announcement. Tyler had recently moved to Richmond to live with his Uncle Mason after his parents had died in a terrible car accident. Tyler never had much of an appreciation for his uncle after he had been exposed to Mason's "business", yet he was the only person Tyler had left. Elena and Tyler found Mason's antics to be over-the-top and, more often than not, way out of line. However, both of them felt as though this was their revenge for getting back at the world for taking away the people that mattered most to them. Elena shared a lot of things with Tyler and vice versa; he was like the brother she once had. Elena felt as though she could sympathize with Tyler since she found herself arguably in the same situation.

Elena nodded herself out of her reverie and looked towards Tyler. "You mean I'd be done with all of his little errands?" she asked hopefully. Although Mason had kept true to his word about her salary, Elena quickly grew tired of his constant nagging at her to take up her duties as one of his best assassins; however, she tolerated all of this because the Mafia had become a sort of second family to her.

Tyler shook his head in agreement. "At least for a while anyways. I'm pretty sure he found a client with an incredible amount of money to offer this time."

Elena glanced towards the door opposite where she now stood. "Guess I better go see what all the mystery's about then."

"I think Uncle Mason's still with his client. Might do some good to get to know him as well; who knows, it could make this little adventure easier for you."

"Misadventure, Tyler."

Elena walked away from a passive Tyler and closer towards her fate. She paused slightly before knocking on the door as she reconsidered Tyler's words, hoping he was right. She tapped lightly on the door, followed by a gruff 'Come in'.

Once Elena stepped into the room she was met with a pair of magnificent green eyes. She whole-heartedly took in the man before her, his hair the perfect bronze color, his strict jaw-line, and his lean but firm body underneath a very expensive suit. Elena didn't realize she was ogling the man until Mason cleared his throat and began to speak.

"Elena, I would like you to make your acquaintances with Mr. Stefan Salvatore," he said. Stefan smiled politely at her, although Elena could tell something was off from his grin. "He has come here and offered a very good deal for us. Stefan, Elena Gilbert is one of our finest assassins. I'm sure she will not disappoint in getting rid of your brother for you."

Elena felt a slight twinge of regret as Stefan continued to smile at her. The pain of losing her own brother came rushing back to her thoughts; how he could betray his own brother like that was beyond her. However, this was the business and life she chose to go into, and she absolutely had to accept the arrangements at all costs. "That's right, Mr. Salvatore. Mason taught me everything I know. I am quite capable of handling myself in the toughest of situations."

"That's good to hear, Miss Gilbert," replied the sly voice of Stefan. "I'm sure you are a little curious as to why I want my brother out of the picture."

"Maybe just a little bit."

"Ever since we were children, my father, Giuseppe, has always taken a liking to my brother, Damon, giving him everything he wanted while I'm left out of luck; he even offered Damon the CEO position of our law firm until my father realized that he had another son to think of as well. When my father fell ill, he made us Co-CEO's of his business." Stefan paused for a moment before going on with an exasperated look plastered onto his face. "And then the love of my life, Katherine, found me and I thought 'finally I have something that is so much more than what he could have'. She meant everything to me and I thought it was all the same with her, so before long I found myself engaged to the most beautiful woman I had ever laid eyes on. My father saw her as a trophy wife for me and automatically offered her a job as secretary for the firm; she had a way of making everyone around her fall under her captivating spell. It was only until a week before our wedding date that I overheard Katherine mention to Damon in his office how their plan to get rid of me and my father in the law firm would be set into motion a month after the wedding so that I could 'earn her trust first'."

Elena noticed Stefan had abruptly stopped his story. "I don't seem to understand, Mr. Salvatore," she inquired, "but why not just go after Katherine instead of Damon?"

"Because Damon was in love with Katherine as well," Stefan snapped. "And the bitch fell for him as well. Damon is nothing but a womanizer that always takes away the things I love most. He doesn't deserve to be my Co-CEO, let alone my own brother."

"And you want me to kill Damon so that he's out of the picture and earn all the rights to the share in the law firm?" Elena questioned.

"Yes and no. I want you to kill him for taking away everything in my life," Stefan replied.

"You don't know what that's like," Elena mumbled.

"Sorry?"

"Nothing, Mr. Salvatore. When do you need me to start?"

"I was thinking.." Stefan started.

"Now."

Both Elena and Stefan looked towards Mason with shocked expressions. "I can't waste anymore time with this while you too ponder over when to begin. I do have a business to run here after all," Mason noted.

Elena glanced up at Stefan with her wide brown eyes, while Stefan looked down at her and smiled devilishly. "I suppose you're going to meet Damon in a few hours, Miss Gilbert."

"Let's just get this over with," Elena replied. She followed Stefan as he headed out the door.

She felt as though karma was laughing at her for doing the same thing that she swore to vow revenge on; hell, she'd probably end up in the same position as the person who murdered her family, wherever he was. Whoever this Stefan Salvatore was and whatever problems he seemed to have with his brother, he better have paid an enormous sum for this expedition; after all, it was just good business.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey! So, I know last chapter was kind of meh, but I really wanted to get Elena's back story out of the way and move on with the plot. I have a couple of things in mind, so just bear with me for now if it feels like it's going slowly.**

Elena followed Stefan out of Mason's dwelling all the way to Stefan's red Mercedes-Benz. Once they were settled inside of his car, Stefan sped away to the more promising side of Richmond.

"How do you suppose I should go about this with Damon then?" Elena wondered as she watched the passing homes shift from a wrecked site to a modern suburbia.

"You're the assassin here. Aren't you supposed to be telling _me_ the diabolical plan that is formulating in that pretty little head of yours?" Stefan returned.

'_Wow, a smartass _and_ presumptuous,_' Elena thought. "Well, I normally ease my way into the target's life and then after a few weeks or so I pull the trigger. It seems, though, that you're a lot more desperate to get rid of someone than all the other clients are, so I'm thinking that my diabolical master plan won't sit with you that well" she said accusingly.

"I'd rather you just rip the band-aid off as soon as you can, so to speak," Stefan replied, unfazed by Elena's nagging.

"Whatever. You're the boss."

They rode in silence for about ten minutes until Stefan pulled up next to an impressive-looking skyscraper. "We're here," he said.

Elena slowly got out of the car and with a pep in his step Stefan had made it to the front door before her to hold it open. As she entered the main lobby of the building, Elena automatically realized that she was entirely underdressed as the people she loathed to see every morning from her apartment window all seemed to congregate in this one area, not to mention the fact that she received many disapproving glares from Stefan's colleagues.

"Um, this way," Stefan said earnestly and led her to a pair of twin elevators. When one of the elevators had finally made it to the main floor, Elena unconsciously moved forward, looking everywhere but in front of her, until she ran into a hard, well-defined chest. She immediately glanced up to apologize for being clumsy but was caught off guard when she noticed a pair of bright cerulean eyes looking down on her. The man was truly a striking vision; his raven-black hair was just barely gracing the top of his long dark eyelashes, and his chiseled jaw-line was complimented with a knowing lop-sided smirk. It was only until Stefan spoke up that Elena realized she had ogled a complete stranger for the second time that day.

"Well, well, well, what do you know?" Stefan teased. "We were just coming up to visit you, Damon."

Elena instantly felt the betrayal of fate. So this was the impeccable son that Stefan's father praised so much more? Based on looks alone, Elena could easily tell why Katherine would choose Damon over Stefan; it was no competition.

"Wouldn't that be a pleasant surprise?" Damon replied through gritted teeth. The tension between the two Salvatore brothers was certainly evident. "Sweetie, you're either whipped or roped in. What'll it be?" Damon asked in a velvety smooth voice, turning to Elena.

"Excuse me, sir?" Elena answered in disbelief.

"Stefan doesn't make friends – or girlfriends – easily. He's too selfish for that sort of thing," Damon said bitterly. Instead of feeling repulsed by Damon's attitude towards her, Elena somehow had the feeling that Damon had every right to be haughty. Stefan only came across as charming and caring when he didn't speak.

"Actually, I met Stefan a few days ago and we hit it off," Elena said, quickly devising a reasonable story in her head. "He had mentioned you a few times as being his Co-CEO, and I felt like I was obligated to meet this successful brother of his. Stefan said he hopes someday he'll be just like you," Elena added, earning her a hard and cold stare from Stefan.

"I bet he does," Damon stated nonchalantly, although Elena could already hear the hidden meaning behind those words.

"Hey, Stefan!"

The trio turned to look at the new voice. Elena noticed a man with sandy blonde hair walk towards them. He seemed friendly enough but after her encounters with Stefan and Damon, Elena knew better than to judge a book by its cover.

"Alaric, buddy, how are you?" Stefan said with a smile. Alaric made a satisfied remark and did a quick check of Stefan's company, glancing over more than once in Elena's direction. "Oh yeah, Alaric, where are my manners? This is Elena Gilbert, a good friend of mine. Elena, this is Alaric Saltzman." Alaric smiled at her, looking pleased that he found some closure as to who the mystery girl was. Elena couldn't help but notice that Stefan had failed to introduce her to Damon, who appeared to still be staring at her often ever since their little run-in; obviously, this fact had no effect on Damon whatsoever.

"Giuseppe needs you to file some claims for Miss Greta Martin. They're in Amy's office right now. He said it was urgent that you do it ASAP, Stefan" Alaric said.

"Of course it would be," Stefan muttered, as he turned to Damon. "Would you keep an eye on her while I take care of business?"

Elena wasn't all too pleased that Stefan had referred to her as though she were a child. She could make his life a living hell if he wasn't more careful in choosing his words around her.

Damon apparently noticed his brother's comment as well. "She's not a puppy, Stefan. I'm sure she can take care of herself."

"Can we please not do this right now, Damon? Just watch her," Stefan replied arrogantly before taking off.

"Well, I guess I better head back to my work. It was nice to meet you, Elena," Alaric said sweetly. This guy was genuine.

"Same as you, Mr. Saltzman." Once Alaric turned a corner and was out of sight, Elena looked back to where Damon stood leaning against the wall by the elevator. There was no denying how awkward the moment just got.

Elena decided to take it upon herself to break the ice. "Mr. Salvatore, I –"

"Damon," he simply said. "Unlike the rest of these arrogant bastards, I don't care about formalities that much."

Elena nodded in understanding. "Damon, I would like to introduce myself to you formally, though. My name is Elena Gilbert but you can just call me Elena."

"So how do you really know my brother, Elena?" Damon blatantly asked. Elena gave him a puzzling look. "Oh, don't look at me like that. I know you two aren't friends; I know what Stefan's like. He's not exactly the easiest guy to get along with. What does he want you to do for him?"

Elena was shocked at Damon but never dared show the emotion on her face. If she wouldn't have known, she'd have guessed that Damon already knew about Stefan's murderous plot. "What I said before is true, Damon. I just wanted to meet you is all."

"Uh-huh. Look, I can already figure he told you about Giuseppe and Katherine. Don't tell me you can't see how greedy he is. The only reason Giuseppe gave me the job first is because I'm older and Stefan was still in high school; he had other things to worry about. He doesn't want this job; only God knows how many times he's complained about it. He'd rather be a doctor, yet Giuseppe wants us to be on the same level, in case one of us couldn't fill in our obligations to the company." Damon gave Elena that knowing smirk again.

"What about Katherine?" she asked meekly.

"Stefan blew up in my face because he heard _Katherine_, not me, say that she wanted to get rid of Stefan and Giuseppe. She wanted us to be like some sort of power couple in the law firm. Yes, I loved her and the feeling was mutual, but it came down to either choosing her or my family. I told Katherine to fuck off because I couldn't do that to my own family. They're all I have left," Damon contemplated with a sad look in his porcelain blue eyes.

Elena knew at that moment that carrying out Stefan's plan would be immensely difficult. The only reason Stefan was upset was because he failed to hear the whole story. Damon wouldn't be the bad guy in this scenario; it was Elena.

"I'm sorry that you and your brother don't get along; I know that that would bother me too," Elena empathized, thinking about Jeremy.

"I guess it'll just take some time for us to get back to the way things were," Damon answered, looking at the floor.

They stood in a comfortable silence for a few moments before Stefan returned to them. "You can go, Damon. I got it from here," he said.

"Again with the objectifying, Stefan," Damon remarked. "Goodbye, Elena. I hope we can meet again soon," he added with a flashy smile. Despite the fact that he and Elena had just shared a semi-heartfelt moment, Elena realized that there was a lot more to Damon Salvatore that what meets the eye – and boy, what an eyeful he was. Elena watched his retreating figure descend down the main lobby before glancing back towards Stefan.

"He's such a jackass, isn't he?" Stefan asked snottily.

"Totally," Elena replied a little too softly. Stefan gave her a questioning stare before heading back to the elevator and pushing the 'up' button.

"Want to check out his private office so you can completely see what you're dealing with?"

Elena moved towards Stefan without answering, feeling guilty for going through an innocent man's personal affairs. "Lead the way."

They both stepped into the elevator, this time without any complications. Elena saw that Stefan had the stupidest smirk on his face as he pressed the button for the sixth floor. She could only imagine the grimace that was currently painted onto her expression as the elevator made its way upward to Damon's lair.


End file.
